Charlie X
| date = 2266 | stardate = 1533.6 | episode = TOS season 1x07 | production = 6149-08 | airdate = | story = Gene Roddenberry | teleplay = D.C. Fontana | director = | novelization = Star Trek 1 by James Blish }} "Charlie X" was the 7th episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, in the show's first season, first aired on 15 September 1966. The episode was written by Gene Roddenberry and D.C. Fontana, directed by and novelized under the title "Charlie's Law" in Star Trek 1 by James Blish. The cargo ship transfers 17-year old Charles ("Charlie") Evans to the on his way to Colony 5 from the planet Thasus. The Antares is mysteriously destroyed and ''Enterprise'' crew members disappear. Captain James T. Kirk realizes that Charlie is responsible but has no control over his deadly god-like powers. Summary thumb|The . ;Captain's log, stardate 1533.6 : Now maneuvering to come alongside cargo vessel . Its captain and first officer are beaming over to us with an unusual passenger. The is meeting the cargo ship so they can transport a young teenage boy, Charles "Charlie" Evans, whom they discovered while surveying the planet Thasus. Charlie beams over to the Enterprise with Captain Ramart of the Antares, and the ship's navigator and first officer, Tom Nellis. Unknown to [[uSS Enterprise (NCC-1701) personnel|the Enterprise crew]], Charlie has god-like powers. He does not inform Captain Kirk of his powers and is also influencing Ramart and Nellis, preventing them from informing Kirk of this. Charlie is supposed to transfer to the Enterprise, which is on route to Colony 5, where, ultimately, he will stay with relatives. thumb|left|[[Nyota Uhura.]] ;Captain's log, stardate 1533.7 : We have taken aboard an unusual passenger for transport to Colony Alpha V. Charles Evans, the sole survivor of a transport crash fourteen years ago. The child, alone from age 3, has not only survived, but has grown to intelligent, healthy adolescence. After being away from all Human contact for so many years, Charlie begins to learn and integrate. Being a teenager, Charlie is also struggling with puberty and develops his first crush on the beautiful Yeoman Janice Rand. In one of the ship's recreation rooms, he secretly silences Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, who is singing, so that he can have all of Rand's undivided attention. thumb|[[James T. Kirk.]] Later, when Charlie is on the bridge, Captain Ramart tries to contact the Enterprise to warn them of Charlie's dangerous powers, but the Antares is secretly destroyed by Charlie before they can get a message off. ;Captain's log, stardate 1535.8 : UESPA headquarters notified of the mysterious loss of science probe vessel ''Antares.'' thumb|left|[[Spock.]] Yeoman Rand eventually introduces Charlie to a girl his own age—Yeoman Third Class Tina Lawton. Charlie immediately snubs Tina and confides to Rand his feelings for her. Rand realizes Charlie's crush is becoming difficult for her and discusses the issue with Captain Kirk, who takes pity on Charlie and attempts to befriend him. Kirk takes Charlie to the gym for some self-defense exercises. After sparring with Kirk, Charlie falls down, which prompts laughter from Sam, one of Kirk's sparring partners. Feeling hurt and humiliated, Charlie makes Sam "disappear"—finally revealing his god-like powers. Ultimately, Charlie admits to destroying the Antares. Soon, Spock suspects that Charlie might be a Thasian, a race of non-corporeal, psionically-powerful beings, rumored to have lived on the planet ages ago. thumb|[[uSS Enterprise (NCC-1701) personnel|The crew.]] Charlie begins to take control of the Enterprise at different levels. Attempts to stop him fail, so he wreaks mayhem on some of the crew. He turns Tina Lawton into an iguana, a young female crewwoman into an old lady, and makes Yeoman Rand "disappear" after Kirk and Spock try to rescue her from Charlie's influences. thumb|left|[[uSS Enterprise (NCC-1701) personnel|The crew.]] Determined to stop Charlie before they reach Colony 5, Kirk tries to overload his powers by activating different systems on the ship all at once. Then, he attempts to physically subdue Charlie. During the midst of this struggle with Charlie, an object suddenly appears alongside the ship. A translucent, floating human-like face appears on the bridge. The voice from the face informs the bridge that it is a Thasian, the powerful psionic beings Spock believed still existed. The Thasian states that it had taken its form centuries ago so that it might communicate with Humans. The Thasians provided Charlie with psionic powers so he could survive. Thasians have the power to transfer psionic ability to other beings. Once they have done this, they either cannot or will not remove this power. Captain Kirk then suggests that Charlie belongs with humans and recommends that he might be trained not to use his psionic powers. The Thasian replies that "We gave him the power so he could live. He will use it—always". Since it would be impossible for Charlie to live a normal life amongst humans, the Thasians "transport" him to their ship and inform the Enterprise bridge that they will continue to care for him. The Thasians depart peacefully without incident. References Characters Episode characters :Robert Abrams • Clifford Brent (?) • Sam Fuller • Charles Evans • Bill Hadley • • James T. Kirk • Tina Lawton • Ryan Leslie • Leonard McCoy • Tom Nellis • Ramart • Janice Rand • Montgomery Scott • Spock • Hikaru Sulu • Nyota Uhura • Vinci (?) • • Thasian • [[unnamed USS Enterprise personnel (2260s)|unnamed 2260s USS Enterprise personnel]] the Evans family Novelization characters :Sam Ellis • Charles Evans • James T. Kirk • Ramart • Janice Rand • Spock • Nyota Uhura • Thasian Tina Lawton • the Evans family Starships and vehicles : ( transport) • ( heavy cruiser) • Thasian ship unnamed Federation civilian starships (The Evans' Federation research vessel) Locations :the galaxy's Alpha or Beta Quadrant Alpha V colony/Colony Five • Earth (England) • • Thasus Shipboard locales ;USS Enterprise: bridge • quarters (Rand's) • transporter room • gymnasium • detention cell • rec room Races and cultures :Human (Bantu) • Thasian • Vulcan States and organizations :United Earth Space Probe Agency/Starfleet • United Federation of Planets • security division Technology and weapons :baffle plate • energy pile • intercom • Nerst generator (novelization only) • force field • record tape • intercom • library computer • memory bank • phaser • phaser pistol • sensor • starship • subspace transmitter • viewscreen • transporter • type-2 phaser Materials and substances :atmosphere • gas • oxygen Ranks and titles :captain • chief engineer • chief medical officer • commander • commanding officer • communications officer • doctor • engineer • Federation Starfleet ranks • Federation Starfleet ranks (2260s) • first officer • governor • helmsman • lieutenant • lieutenant commander • medical practitioner • navigator • officer • scientist • science officer • second officer • ship's surgeon • yeoman Other references :anatomy • beaming • Bones • boot • captain's log • [[captain's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), 2266|captain's log, USS Enterprise, 2266]] • chess • clothing • Federation colonies • five-year mission • government • homeworld • humanoid • jumpsuit • language • lifeform • log entry • logic • matter • memory • nation-state • non-corporeal species • pants • planet • quadrant • races and cultures • rank • rose • Saurian brandy • solitaire • space • star • star system • stardate • Starfleet uniform • Starfleet uniform (2260s) • technology • Thanksgiving • title • three-dimensional chess • tunic • "The Tyger" • uniform • universe • Victorian • Vulcan lute • carrier wave • "Charlie's law" • duty roster • English language • perfume • playing card • rosebud • solitaire • Victorian Age • weapon Chronology ;years prior to 2266 : The Evans' ship crashes on Thasus. (prior to episode/novelization) ;stardate 1533.6, 2266 (2260s chronology, [[voyages of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) (2264 to 2270)|2264–2270 Enterprise voyages]]) : Enterprise and Antares rendezvous. Appendices Related media * The scenes where Nyota Uhura sings in the recreation room and where James T. Kirk disputes with Charlie Evans on the bridge are replayed, as dreamlike scenery from Janice Rand's memory, in the . * A flashback adapting scenes from this episode was included in , the continuation of Charlie's story. evansRand.jpg|Charlie makes Rand vanish. randSA.jpg|Janice Rand. evansVanishes.jpg|Charlie is made to vanish. Adaptations star Trek 1 (novel).jpg|Novelized in Star Trek 1. blish1.jpg|Novelized in Star Trek 1 reprint. blish1a.jpg|Novelized in Star Trek 1 reprint. star trek 1 (corgi).jpg|Novelized in Star Trek 1 reprint. star trek 1 (corgiNEW).jpg|Novelized in Star Trek 1 reprint. der unwirkliche MacCoy.jpg|Novelization German language translation in Der unwirkliche MacCoy. der unwirkliche McCoy.jpg|Novelization German language translation reprinted in Der unwirkliche McCoy. enterprise1.jpg|Novelization German language translation reprinted in Enterprise 1. reader2.jpg|Novelization collected in The Star Trek Reader II. der große Sammelband.jpg|German language novelization translation collected in Der große Sammelband. classicEpisodes1.jpg|Novelization collected in The Classic Episodes 1. classicEpisodes.jpg|Novelization collected in The Classic Episodes. Video releases charliexBETAMAX.jpg|Betamax cover. tos collector vhs.jpg|Collector's edition VHS release with "The Enemy Within". charliexVHS1.jpg|VHS cover. charliexVHS.jpg|VHS cover. tOSvol2LaserDisc.jpg|Laserdisc release with "The Man Trap". uKVHSv5.jpg|Overseas VHS release with "Balance of Terror". uKVHSv3.jpg|Overseas VHS release with "Balance of Terror" and "The Naked Time". charliexDVD.jpg|DVD release with "Balance of Terror". Background thumb|The Antares as depicted in the remastered edition of this episode * In James Blish's novelization this episode was titled Charlie's Law. * The Antares was not seen in the original version of this episode; however, it is pictured in the 2007 remastered edition, the design strongly resembling that of the Federation drone ships of the TAS episode "More Tribbles, More Troubles". Images Episode images charlieXTitleCard.jpg antares remastered.jpg|''Antares''. charlieXTransporterOperator.jpg jtkCharlieX.jpg charles Evans.jpg|Charlie. captain Ramart and Tom Nellis.jpg|Captain Ramart and Lieutenant Tom Nellis of the . sam Fuller.jpg|Sam Ellis. medicalReadout.jpg ent1701GalleyChief.jpg|Galley chief. randCards.jpg spock plays Vulcan lute.jpg|Spock plays a Vulcan lute. tina Lawton.jpg|Yeoman Tina Lawton. tinaLawton2.jpg thasian ship 2.jpg thasian ship.jpg thasian.jpg charlieXVanishes.jpg Adaptation images ent1701 Blish1.jpg|The . jtk Blish1a.jpg|James T. Kirk. spock Blish1a.jpg|Spock. uhura Blish1.jpg|Nyota Uhura. ent1701 Blish1a.jpg|The Enterprise. crew blish corgi.jpg|The crew. ent1701blish1corgi.jpg|The Enterprise. der unwirkliche MacCoy crew.jpg|The crew. der unwirkliche McCoy crew.jpg|The crew. jtkGoldmann1a.jpg|James T. Kirk. spockGoldmann1a.jpg|Spock. ent1701blish9.jpg|The Enterprise. jtkGoldmannCOLL.jpg|James T. Kirk. spockGoldmannCOLL.jpg|Spock. jtkENT1.jpg|James T. Kirk. spockENT1.jpg|Spock. ent1701 ENT1.jpg|The . ent1701st1-IT.jpg|The . sT1crew.jpg|James T. Kirk and Janice Rand. spockST1FR.jpg|Spock. phaserST1FR.jpg|A phaser. spockENT1701st1nl.jpg|Spock and the . ent1701st1-JP.jpg|The . ST1JPart.jpg|Character art. ST1HbArt.jpg|Character art. ent1701VHScoll.jpg|The Enterprise. crewVHScoll1.jpg|The crew. crewVHScoll2.jpg|The crew. Timeline }} | nextpocket = Elegy for Charlie | voyages1 = TOS | adbefore1 = | adafter1 = Elegy for Charlie }} External link * * category:tOS episodes category:tOS season 1